Guthixianism
This page addresses information about Guthix, his religion, and his followers as it applies to World 42 roleplaying. Any valuable contributors are welcome to add, especially as new content comes out in-game. Guthix Guthix, pronounced Guh-thicks, is the god of Balance. Before the events of The World Wakes, Guthix was thought to lack any form of gender (though, for convenience, most refered to him as male). He is neither good nor evil, but rather approaches things from an initially neutral standpoint and will act on either side of the spectrum in favor of what re-establishes equilibrium and balance. Brief History At the beginning of the First Age, Guthix discovered the blank plane and, inside of it, the Stone of Jas, and ither elder artifacts that had been left behind by elder gods. Supplementing his power with the Artifacts, he formed the landscape of Gielinor, created rune magic, and and populated his new world with beings like the Myriad, gnomes, dwarves, and humans, who he brought from another realm. By the time he was finished and the world was to his liking, other beings had also discovered the world and settled into it. Satisfied, Guthix hid the Stone of Jas, assigning it a protector, and went into a deep slumber. All knowledge of Guthix was quickly forgotten from the history books, aside perhaps from the populations of gnomes and dwarves. According to Saradomin, none of the Gielinorian deities knew of Guthix's existence prior to Its banishing of them. Even Seren, who was present already in the First Age, did not mention Guthix to other gods. When Guthix awoke, Saradomin and Zamorak were causing utter destruction of the lands Guthix had formed in their God Wars, along with at least twenty other deities who had entered the Gielinorian plane while he slumbered. To stop the wars, he enacted the Edicts of Guthix, which bound and prevented all gods in the realm from directly interfering with the world's events. Henceforth, most gods became transient and could only influence the world through their followers. Guthix, feeling great sorrow for the world It had shaped and loved so, descended again to slumber, but first paused to survey Gielinor's ravaged state, and wept. As far as anyone knows, he has been asleep since. At the end of a Fifth Age, a series of events took place which resulted in the demise of Guthix at the hands of the Mahjarrat, Sliske. This marked the beginning of a new age where the gods were free to return. Guthixianism has now become more of a philosophy and way of life rather than a religion since Guthix's death, and most Guthixians are in their own form of mourning. The Religion "The way of Guthix" entails as much as acquiring balance, resulting in an/the Equilibrium. It holds no other goal. However, because this ideal is so flexible, the typical followers of Guthix can be divided into three groups: Modernist, Traditionalist, and Reformist. All, however, have deeply set intentions to uphold the balance of order and chaos. Modernists Modernists are probably the largest group of Guthixians because most characters are modernists. They believe in balance more loosely, and will tend to side with the ideals of one of the other two major gods. They acknowledge Saradomin and Zamorak as the new gods of order and chaos. It's not uncommon for these followers to also worship either Zamorak or Saradomin just as much. One of the best examples of an NPC modernist is Kara-Meir, as she chooses to follow neither Saradomin nor Zamorak, but refuses to ever intentionally side with "evil". Traditionalists Traditionalists are a bit more strict to the beliefs and teachings of Guthix's ideals on balance. Many characters (such as Gypsy Aris, Druids and Void Knights) may be Traditionalists. Reformists Reformists acknowledge Saradomin as the successor to Armadyl and Zamorak to Zaros. They say that Armadyl gave Saradomin the power of a god and Zamorak took it from Zaros. Armadyl hid away in his realm. Zaros was forced into his realm. They acknowledge that Armadyl and Zaros are still gods but their successors have taken their place in order and chaos. Godlessness These are the ones who have discovered the true will of Guthix, the ones who know of his wish to not be worshipped and for the gods themselves to not be in Gielinor. They do not worship Guthix so as to honor his last wish, and same follows for all other gods. Godless may no longer worship him, but many still hold fast to his ideals of balance. Traditionalist would support, and can be known in this category also. For the actual Godlessness page, click here. Followers and Guthixian Creatures *Balance-Oriented Humans **Druids **Seers **Void Knights **Gypsies **Crux Eqal **Moon Clan *Most Gnomes *Most Dwarves *Myriad *Some Fairies *Earthly Nymphs/Spirits *Ents *Spirit trees *Raptors *Most Elemental Beings *Phoenix *Sheep *Cats *Most Wolves *Moss Giants *Automatons Common Mistakes This category addresses the traits that players, who are often new, give their Guthixian characters, but aren't actually seen in Guthixians on Gielinor. That is, a character may have these traits, but it would not be expressly due to the teachings of the Guthixian religion. *Guthix is not necessarily a "neutral" god. Instead, Guthixians will take whichever side is necessary to restore equilibrium. In the coming wars, this means Guthixians may be willing to directly break laws of the faith if it means removing the gods from Gielinor. *Guthix is often mistaken for a god of peace and tranquility. He is heavily connected with nature and the Anima Mundi, both of which are peaceful, but he himself does not practice peace for the sake of peace - there must be war to balance it. However, Druids may believe this is satisfied in the violent need to kill for food. *In roleplay, it isn't common for characters to shorten Guthix's name to Guth. Guthixian NPCs don't do this and, in character, it may be offensive to familiarize the god by giving him a nickname. *Just because Guthix is deceased doesn't mean normal followers of him would give up their religion and find a new one, one can continue to follow his teachings as there is a difference between worshipping Guthix and following Guthix's teachings. This can be linked to being similar to real-world Buddhism, as the original Buddha is dead, but people continue to follow his teachings today. Other Information *Guthix is a shapeshifter. *Guthix was born a Naragi, and his own world had a God Wars; he himself managed to kill a God, Skargaroth, with his sword. This lead him to his belief of a world without the interference of gods. *Guthix was one of Gielinor's strongest Gods after the Elder Gods. **This was because of him using some elder artifacts before his first sleep. Gallery Guthix3 origins.png|Guthix as shown in the Origins of Gielinor video. Guthix2 origins.png|Guthix sealing Gielinor off from the gods. Guthix origins.png|Guthix arrives on Gielinor. Guthix Dead.png|Guthix after Sliske killed him. Guthix.png|The form Guthix was first known to players by. Gallifreyan Guthix.jpg|Guthix, written in Gallifreyan Guthix1.png|The symbol found within the Ancient Guthix Temple Captain_Ethar.png|Captain Ethar, a void knight Category:Lore Category:Religion Category:Guides Category:Guthixian